


Cat

by erintoknow



Series: Aria [16]
Category: Fallen Hero Series - Malin Rydén, Fallen Hero: Rebirth (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Found Family, POV Female Character, POV Second Person, Trans Character, Trans Female Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-29
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-11-07 16:36:47
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 4,135
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20820440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erintoknow/pseuds/erintoknow
Summary: “So, like, in November, I found this cat…”





	1. Oh, nothing to worry about

**Author's Note:**

> [[Oceanica by San Fermin]](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YhU3j-9Ng4g)

It started with a soft sound at the door Friday night. November, and it’s finally starting to get cold at night. Close the eyes, get a feel, try not to let your heart get away from you. This house is abandoned, boarded up –mostly– there shouldn’t be anyone else here. The traps you’ve set out ought to dissuade any like-minded lookers, too many close calls in the past year.

Can still remember the hands. Should have broken more than a nose.

But no – focus. A soft sound, something scratching at the door. Not human. Good? Bad? Animal. Probably harmless? But then what about that goat? …You don’t think it’s a goat. One day you’ll ‘forget’ to turn in your gun back to the Ranger’s armory, and you’ll instantly feel a 100% more safe.

Human or not, first priority is to make sure you’re fully dressed, shirt pulled down, tights and shorts haven’t suddenly vanished. Even without a light, nothing’s truly dark in this city. Ground light always. Grab your knife, hold it ready. You take up position to the side of the door, holding your breath as you slowly turn the knob, crack it open.

It happens before you realize what’s happening.

Something small squeezes through the door before it’s even an eighth of the way open. Rubs it’s side up against your leg, and you almost drop the knife. “Oh.” You laugh, tension draining out of you. “It’s– It’s just a cat.”

The cat purrs, that weird vibrating not-noise. Just a cat. You’re fine. You’re safe, or – no, not safe, how did a cat get in here? Then you remember, the other bedroom on the second floor; the broken window by the tree.

Huh.

Alright.

Well, you can board that up, or cut back the branch maybe. You slide down against the wall, run your hand through its fur. Thanks cat.

Saturday evening, you come back to the room and the cat is sitting on the bed. Ears alert, eyes immediately zeroing in on you as you open the door. “Uh… h–h–hi?” The cat makes a chirping noise and leaps off the bed. You’re still a little buzzed from drinking with Ortega. Voice a little sore. Can feel yourself coming off the adrenaline high hard. Can’t believe you did that. What on earth where you thinking? But.. Ortega needed… you don’t know. She needed something, hopefully tonight had been an acceptable substitute. Not knowing what she’s thinking means you have to work so much harder; really pay attention. Are you guessing right? How do you check your work on something like that?

You unsling the bass guitar, prop it up against the dresser, drop your backpack on the floor next to it. The cat keeps rubbing against your leg, making its little purring noises.

Should you… should you feed it? What do cats eat? Tuna fish or something, right? You’ll figure it out later. It’s not like you have any food on you right now, and you’re tired, and not thinking straight. Flop on to your bed, face-first into the pillow. Before you can roll over, there’s a noise and then four little paw-fulls of knives land on your back. The cat settles into place, sitting on the small of your back.

Guess this is your life now.


	2. Wouldn't last forever

You’ve been at this house for a coming on half a year now, and it’s past time you pack your things and find a new place to squat. You’ve spied a couple suits poking around now. The hack job you did hooking back up the water and power wasn’t going to go unnoticed forever. You knew that.

Would have been nice to have had more time.

Cat chirps insistently at you, rubbing your leg. You wince. “R–right. Sorry, Cat.” You stop rolling up clothes and dig out a can of cat food from a side pocket in your backpack. Pull the tab back, then it’s grabbing Cat’s dish bowl and tapping the contents out.

Cat stares up at you expectantly the whole time. Once the bowl is back on the ground, they chirp again and lick the food, once, twice, before wandering away. You shake your head and go back to folding clothes. Cat will come back when they’re good and ready.

You already scoped out a new place this morning. You should be all set to move in. Except–

Cat is back, they’ve decided they’re hungry after all.

–You hadn’t really planned on it but… you’ve gotten used to having Cat around. Days where they don’t show always end up leaving you a little tense. Not that Cat can’t handle themself but…

When you’re all packed and Cat is done eating, you sling your backpack and guitar over your arms. Adjust to make sure nothing’ll slip and then scoop up Cat before they wander too far away. “Alright you,” You hoist Cat up, press them close to your chest. “H–how do you feel about new digs?”


	3. Catastrophe

A month later and you’re at her apartment. Ortega is trying to teach you how to make ‘real’ salsa when the call comes over the phone, slicing the conversation in half. Catastrofiend.

“Shit.” You hiss, putting the knife down.

Ortega gives you a grim look, as she hangs up. “So much for an evening off.”

“Where are we headed this time?”

Ortega side-eyes you as she quickly washes her hands. “Stough Canyon. That’s not far from your usual haunts. You familiar with the area?”

“Ah– Uh, a little.” You lie.

You’ve kept your skinsuit on under your clothes, so changing is just a matter of getting out your mask and jacket from your backpack while Ortega changes in her bedroom. Ortega makes more phone calls on her brick of a cellphone as the two of you rush down the stairs.

Riding on the back of Ortega’s motorcycle is never _not_ a jarring experience. Helmet on, cling to her for dear life. Traffic laws? That’s for _other_ people. The Marshal has places to be. It’s no surprise, then, when the two of you are first on the scene.

The scene being: the multiarmed nightmare of the Catastrofiend tearing through a group of men unloading semi-automatic rifles on it to little effect. Five men– no, four now as one of the Catastrofiend’s bladed arms bisects the nearest gunner.

“Are those guys Wolfpack?” Ortega puts a foot down on the asphalt to hold balance as the two of you assess the situation from a safe distance.

You squint, loosening your grip around Ortega’s middle. Should have gone for googles, could have included a magnification element. “I… think so? What could possibly compel them to attack like that?” You don’t dare reach your mind out to them, less the collection of poisoned razors the Catastrofiend calls a psyche sends you into a panic attack. Again.

“Hollow Ground…” Ortega growls.

“You still on that?” You sigh, take a quick glance around. This fight is taking uncomfortably close to your place. Worry for Cat enters your head and you have to shake it out of your mind. “Come on, no sense letting them die, gangsters or no.”

Ortega hunches her shoulders, you can see her grin in the sideview mirror. “Let’s show them how the Rangers get things done.” She revs the engine.

“Wait– what–” is all you manage to get out before Ortega takes off again and you have to cling on for dear life, motorcycle speeding straight at the mess.

The gunfire stops and the Catastrofiend turns to face you, raising one bladed arm. You pull Ortega hard to the left and the two of you swerve past, bloodied metal slicing the air where the motorcycle should have been. Ortega whoops at the top of her lungs, puts the kickstand down and fist pumps the air.

You clamber off the bike, “Are you f–f–freaking _crazy_!?”

Ortega looks back at you with a manic grin. “Got her attention didn’t we?”

The Catastrofiend stalks towards the two of you, it’s bottom two blade arms click-clacking against the asphalt in tandem with its legs.

“Yes!” You glance about, where did the those wolfpack gangsters go? “Good work! N–n–now what you asshole!?”

Ortega readies her gun, “Keep her from running before the rest of the team gets here.” She lines up a shot and fires. The Catastrofiend’s shoulder jerks back as the bullet ricochets off a metal limb.

“I– I don’t have a gun on me!”

“Plenty here, then!” Ortega fires off another shot as the Catastrofiend picks up speed.

Cursing Ortega under your breath, you zero in on the nearest body. Blood pooling in the street. Shit. No coming back from that. Dash over, try not to look as you pry the rifle from still warm fingers. “Sorry, sorry, I’m so sorry.”

Look back up, and Ortega has broken into a run, the Catastrofiend giving chase. Tension vibrates through you like a chord. Half expected her to try fist-fighting. Thank god not even Ortega is that reckless.

Line up the sights, breath in, lead the shot. Squeeze and breath out. The banging rings in your ears and the Catastrofiend stumbles, stops. Did you hit her? She turns to face you. A low guttural growl rolls out across the street and your stomach drops out from under you. Oh. “Fuck.”

It sprints back down the street at you. “Fuck!” Toss the gun to the ground and jump a fence to duck past two houses. Behind you, you can hear Ortega yell something, the report of her gun. The Catastrofiend stays focused on you, can feel rusty metal at the edge of your awareness. Behind and getting closer.

You’ve got one advantage here:

You know this neighborhood. Jump fences, swing around trees. Heart in your throat. Where the hell even is Ortega at this point? You risk a few precious seconds to reach down and grab a rock. Next turn you make, you risk a few more precious seconds to throw it. The rock bounces harmlessly off the Catastrofiend’s chest. She doesn’t slow down.

Well. Had to make sure she was still motivated to kill you. Motivation confirmed.

Take off running again, and you can feel the burn in your lungs, legs. Run another block and realize: that’s your place at the end of the street. Damn. How far have you run?

–Wait, the plasma caster. You had the plasma caster stored in your room. Fuck. Yes. That’ll fix this thing. Push yourself harder, not much farther to go. When you hear the echo of a motorcycle bouncing off the houses a prayer of thanks is in order to whomever might be listening.

You duck to the side to give Ortega a clear shot and the rapport of her gun rings out. The Catastrofiend lets out a furious hiss and turns, but not in time to avoid being slammed broadside with Ortega’s motorcycle as the Marshal dives clear. Monster and machine crumble into a mess of metal and limbs and slide across the street for a few feet.

You slow to a stop, gasping for air. Find Ortega, getting up off the ground, checking her hands for burns. “Is… is that– is that it…?”

Ortega gives you a thumbs up, “See? Easy as burning years of my salary.”

“Sorry about the bike.”

“Worth it.”

A spike of anger pokes through your song and you drop into a defensive stance. “Shit.”

Ortega tenses up upon seeing you. “What? What?”

Metal limbs curl up, slicing through the twisted remains of Ortega’s motorcycle.

“Oh, mierda. _Not cool_!” Ortega stamps her foot and quickly starts reloading her gun as the Catastrofiend pulls herself to her feet again. Its gurgling voice is thick and distorted and barely human.

> f̵̧̛̠͚̫̫͈̓͊͊̀̀̏̈́̀̇͛́͂͜͝͠o̷̢̞̙͖̖̲͈̭͌̿̈́̋̉͐͋͑͠o̴̜̥̥͍͚̼̖̦͚̙͋͂̈́l̸̠̣̥͔̍́͜į̵̙͇̰͎̯͙̫̎š̸̢̛͇͍͎̱̠͇̳̼͚̰͌̍̇̋̊̑̏̇ͅh̶̩͎͔̖͖͈̔̀̎

Oh.

_Fuck_.

Back to plan Plasma Caster it was then.

“Ortega!” You yell back to her as you start running again, “Keep it busy!”

“Yeah, that’s the idea!”

At the house, run around to the back door. Turn knob pull up on the door then out and finally push back in and the door swings up. Jump over the tack paper booby trap, around the stringwire alarm can system, and up the stairs. Cat meows at you in greeting as you tear into the room. Stop a moment, have to acknowledge Cat with a pat. “H–hi Cat.”

They rub up against you as you slide down on your knees, “R–r–really not the time right now!” You gently push them away and reach for the box under your bed. Ortega’s going to be pissed with you when she realizes. Hopefully saving her life is apology enough.

Look out the window and… Ortega is fist-fighting with the Catastrofiend. Goddamnit. If you opened the window and kicked out the screen, you’d have a decent angle from here. Clear shot, no cover.

Cat chirps and rubs your leg again. You are back so it must be dinner time, right?

“N–not–not now, Cat.” You hiss. “S–sorry! I’ll make it u–up to you. Promise.” You can’t shoot from here. Can’t risk putting Cat in harm’s way. Damnit. Give Cat a scratch behind the ears and then you’re off again. Down the stairs, out of the house. Flick off the safety, dial up the power.

Ground level and the dance between woman and nightmare has only picked up in speed. You need a clear shot, you need a clear shot, you need–

It’s like everything moves in slow motion. Ortega dives right to avoid one arm, but the Catastrofiend has caught on, bringing a bladed limb in sharp and low. It buries itself into her gut. Someone screams, and it might be you.

> B̷̨̤̺̗͓̘͎̭̰̀͛̚͝ę̷̼̜̖̜̹̞͉͕̥̠͖̃̅̿͆̿̐͂́͜ğ̷̼͕̱̤͚͚̹̳̼̺̫͍̑́͒̇͒̐͒̋̈́̇̌͘̚͜ ̸̢̧͇̘̩̗̳͍̫̤̲͙͛͒ͅf̷̢̤̬̺̥͎̭̰̹̩̱̼̰̔̔͂o̶̢̯̭̖̙͛̍̑͘ŗ̴͖̲̞͙͖̦̻̗̺͈̟͕̜̊̌̒̾̽͊̈̍̿̍̔̚͝͝͠ ̷̪͙́̽̀́̕̚ṁ̶̨̛̩͓͔͕̜̬͓̐̍̔̓̀̊̚͜͜ȩ̸̥͇̃r̷̨̧̲̹͕͉̯̝̐͛̒ḉ̸̢̠̘͍̜̙̥̤͙͗̑̐̑ͅy̵̨͈̩̤̝̯̗̲̬̰̙̝̬͂͑́͌̔̂͘͘͘͝.̸̡͉͍͈͒͐̒́.̶̨̨̨̥͔̝̞͇͇̜̞̜̔͘͠ͅ.̵̡̜̣͎̞̥̲̩̪̻̗̹̇̓̈́̅̃͐̐́͊̓̚̕

Ortega coughs blood, laughs as she grabs the blade in her abdomen, slowing forcing it back out. The Catastrofiend raises another arm, ready to strike.

No!

No. No. No.

You cast out with your mind, any pretension to music abandoned and grab hard on the pile of rusty nails that make up the Castrofiend’s mind. You can feel the headache already threatening but that’s not important. Forget Ortega. Ortega’s not important. Look at you. You’re the threat here. Just. **_Stop_**.

The arm jitters in place as if held there. Enough time to line up the shot. Fire. Flash of green and the bolt hits the Catastrofiend square in the chest, singed flesh curling smoke. And… now her focus is squarely on you. Fuck. Shit. Damnit. Step backward and fire off another shot. This time it blocks with an arm, metal joints glow red and melt together. It makes this ungodly screeching noise, like nails on chalkboard giving feedback into a microphone and you trip; fall backwards on your ass.

The monster races towards you and toss your gun to the side and roll in the opposite direction as three metal points penetrate the earth where you had just been. The fourth catches you with the flat of the blade, buffeting you against the wall of a house and knocking the breath from your lungs.

This is it. This is it. Couldn’t even save Ortega.

Fuck.

Fuck.

Fuck…?

Something yowls and there’s a hissing noise. Open your eyes. Cat is sitting in the windowsill, hackles raised and hissing at the Catastrofiend. She stops, arms still raised and turns her head to stare at Cat. When she hisses back, Cat yowls and scrambles off the windowsill, running for cover.

There’s a deep-throated noise coming from the monster as it turns back to you. Is it… is she laughing?

> B̸̨̛̘͉̠̳͕̪̹̪̹̪́̈́̆̅͜͝ḛ̴̮̠̎̄̀g̷̛̥̫̜̺͍̹̤̭̐̒̉́͆

You flinch.

A sharp burst of wind and a flash of heat wash over you, open your eyes and see the monster struggle to stay upright.

Turn your head to in the direction of the source; Sentinel and Sunstream are running towards you. The Catastrofiend screeches again and Sunstream pulls a laser down from a nearby streetlight, carving a line down the face. Can’t be worse than a weak sunburn but it must be bad enough because it drives the Catastrofiend back.

Still running towards you, Sentinel summons another burst of wind and the Catastrofiend screeches. …Frustrated? She backs up further before turning tail and running.

Sentinel drops down by your side, offering a hand to get you back to your feet. “You okay, Sidestep?”

“Yeah– wait, no, Ortega!” Stumble to your feet and out of Sentinal’s hand. “Charge is hurt!” You dash across the street. “Ortega– Charge!”

Please be okay.

Sunstream is propping Ortega up. Too much blood, has to try to hold the wound shut.

No. No. No. “Ortega!?”

Sunstream gives you a fearful look, you can feel the worry shooting through her mind. “She’s hurt pretty bad.”

“Ambulance!?”

She shakes her head. “Already on it’s way, but it’s a drive to the nearest hospital.”

You spin on your heel as Sentinel gets near. “Can you fly her?”

He nods, “That’s normally the plan but…” He looks over you, at Ortega’s prone form. “We need to do something to staunch the bleeding or moving her is going to make things worse.”

You hug yourself, shaking. Ortega isn’t going to die. You refuse to let this happen.

Wait.

Your space. Medical supplies. Field surgery kits.

“Sentinel, Sunstream. Keep an eye on Ortega, I’ll be right back.” You don’t wait for a response before taking off. Back to the house, back to your room, don’t bother closing the doors. Take the steps two at a time. Grab the medkit, anything else? You can see the glint of Cat’s eyes under the bed. Hiding? “I’m s–sorry.” You manage to choke out and then it’s running again. Three steps at time down, back to the street, back to Ortega.

Sunstream and Sentinel are debating the merits of trying to use Sunstream’s power to cauterize the wound. Push Sentinel aside as you drop to the ground beside Ortega, pop open the first-aid kit. “I’ve got it, this’ll help.”

You grab the can from the top of the bag and give it a hard shake. Should still be enough.

You can feel Sentinel’s surprise from behind you. “Biofoam? Sidestep, that’s military grade, where you did get that?”

Try to hold back your frustration. “Does it really freaking matter right now!?” You really don’t have it in you to argue the ethics of theft in this moment. You stick the nozzle of the can close to Ortega’s wound. “Hey– hey, Julia? This is gonna fucking hurt.” Ortega groans something.

Good enough.

You press down on the nozzle and a pale pinkish foam pours out with a hiss, quickly expanding into and over the open wound in Ortega’s abdomen. Sunstream gives you a worried look as she holds onto Ortega’s shoulders, doesn’t let her turn over as she groans.

When you finish applying the foam you fall back on your legs. You feel dizzy. Nauesous. “S–s–she still lost a lot of blood.” You say, stating the obvious.

“Still,” Sunstream is looking straight at you. You have to look away. “You might have just saved her life with that.”

You try to keep your hands from tensing up. “I… _not_ saving wasn’t an option.” Glance back and up at Sentinel. “Can carry her now?”

Sentinel nods, face grim as he stoops down. “Oof, our Marshal is a little heavier than I remember.” He adjusts his hold on her as he stands back up. “All that mod work adds up.”

A spike of fear shoots through you. “Can you still do it?”

“Yeah.” Sentinel nods, squares his shoulders, gives you a look. “Anything else isn’t an option.” The wind gathers around him and you and Sunstream watch him slowly lift off the ground. “Closest hospital is the Pacifica?”

You glance at Sunstream for confirmation. She nods.

“Right,” He nods back. “See you kids there.” The wind whips around you as Sentinel takes into the sky.

You let go of your breath and collapse, falling backwards against the pavement.

“Sidestep!?” Sunstream moves towards you, and you hold up a hand.

“I’m… I’m okay. I think?” You laugh. Oh god. That could have gone real bad. “Orte– Charge will be okay now, right?”

“Yeah. Of course.” Sunstream says, but you can feel the doubt in her head. Ah. Fuck. Sunstream shuffles over to look at your first aid kit. You want to tell her off for it, but– “This is pretty well stocked.”

“Yeah.”

“How’d you know this would be around here?”

“Ah– W–w–well…”

This is bad. You can already feel the logic chain assembling in her head when something rubs up against your shoulder. Turn your head, “Cat?”

Sunstream looks over to you, and her thoughts are instantly derailed. “Oh! Kitty!”

Cat hops on top of you, absolutely no thought to your comfort in mind and they walk across your chest. As usual. “Hi Cat.”

Sunstream kneels down next to you and scoops Cat up in her arms. “Hey you, what are you doing here? It’s dangerous.” Cat chirps in protest, legs outstretched.

You prop yourself up on your elbows. “You like cats?”

“Like? I’m allergic!” Sunstream fakes a laugh. “Who’s your owner cutie-pie?” She shifts Cat in her arms to get a better hold. “No collar huh?”

“There’s… uh, a lot of strays these days.” You cautiously put out there.

“Yeah, but look how healthy he is! _Somebody_ has been taking care of this little angel, huh?” Cat chirps again. Does _this_ lady have any food? No?

“Maybe they’re local.”

“To _this_ half empty neighborhood? I doubt it.” Sunstream runs a hand down Cat’s back, gently pulling the skin. “Should at least have an RFID chip. I can get that scanned and we’ll see this sweetie gets home safe. Tomorrow, I guess.”

This is getting out of hand. “Um– I can– I can do it.”

“Sidestep?”

“You said you’re allergic, right? So… I can take Cat. Uh, the cat.” Your heart is pounding as heavy as it was while fighting the Catastrofiend.

Sunstream gives you a curious look. “Oh? You don’t mind watching the cat? Okay.”

“We can… –tomorrow, we can meet up at the Ranger HQ, get Cat – uh, the cat – checked and then maybe… visit Ortega?” You’ll have to make sure you have enough money to pay for a pet license and for one of those chips. Cat saved your life tonight. Ortega’s life. Both your lives.

Might as well make it official.

Sunstream gives you a tired smile. “Sounds good to me, Sidestep.”


	4. Catch and Release

The plan would have worked perfectly except–

Cat has a chip. When the Vet called the registered number, You could hear the ecstatic screaming on the phone from across the counter. It only got louder when the woman told them _who_ had come in with their cat.

You thought you’d wait there at the Vet office with Sunstream, meet the lucky family. Cat curled up on your lap, purring as you stroked their fur. But– you feel a little sick. Face hurts. It wasn’t fair. You don’t want to give Cat back. Can’t stand everyone stealing glances in your direction.

“Sunstream?”

“Sidestep?”

“C–c–can you hold onto Ca– Dorothy for me? I’m.. going to t–take a walk.”

That gets a note of concern from her. “You okay there, Sidestep?”

“I’m fine.” You gently pour Cat into her lap. “I–I–I just need to c–clear my head.” You get to your feet and rock back and forth on your heels. “Maybe I’ll see you at the Hospital.”

“Alright…” Sunstream frowns, “If you’re sure?”

“Y–yeah.” You ruffle Cat’s ears. Listen to them purr in Sunstream’s lap. “Bye, Cat.” You whisper, and then make a quick exit. You’re not crying. And anyway, your mask in on, so no one could ever tell even if you were. Which you aren’t.


	5. Coda

You dim the lights in Ortega’s hospital room, close the door behind you. Still out, like the nurse warned you.

You pull a chair over to her bed, sit on it backwards so you can rest your head on the back. “Glad y–you’re okay.” You whisper. She had needed a blood transfusion last night. Was absurdly lucky not to have injured any major organs. Would she had made it if you hadn’t used the last of that biofoam? It wasn’t clear. The wound was stitched shut now in any case. Was probably going to leave a god awful scar, even with Ortega’s ‘top-rate’ healthcare.

Breath in. Breath out. “I’m really glad.” You run a hand across your upper leg, tracing patterns. “Th–that’s again I’ve saved your butt, Sparkles. Stop sca–scaring me like this.”

You chew your lip.

“Actually… You’ll n–never believe who saved both our butts…” You can feel yourself smile. “S–see, like, in November, I–I–I found this cat…”


End file.
